Page 7 of Maddox: Wild Alaska (Hawke’s Ridge #1)

I rest my hands on the breakfast bar and concentrate on breathing, wondering what the hell I'm doing.

There's no denying my connection with Sofie, but she's engaged.

"She isn't married yet," a little voice whispers in the back of my mind.

I briefly met her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and I don't think much of them.

Well, that's not entirely true. I think they're both bitches.

This makes me wonder what her fiancé is like.

Is he like his mom and sister? "Fuck," I shout in frustration.

"I'd sleep with her and get her out of my system."

My head snaps toward the doorway where my dad and my brother Garrett stand.

"How long have you been there?"

Garrett snickers. "Long enough to know you're fighting with yourself."

Dad moves forward and pats me on the arm. "She isn't happy, Maddox." He fills the kettle with water and lights the burner.

“How do you know she’s unhappy?” I sit and let him get on with what he's doing. Over the years, I've learned that letting him get it out sooner rather than later saves me a headache. Garrett sits at the end of the counter.

"I read it in her coffee leaves." Dad smirks.

"You only use instant coffee."

"Okay, genius." He dumps tea bags into three cups, making me wince.

I hate tea. I glance at my brother and notice the wince on his face. He rolls his eyes when he catches my gaze.

"I can see you both. Tea ends all troubles,” says Dad.

"Who told you that?" Garrett mumbles.

Dad turns and grins. "Your mother."

"Ouch," I say, laughing.

Dad waves the teaspoon in my face. "We'll have a cup of tea and call your mother. She'll tell you how to convince Sofie to stay here with you!" He smirks. "It doesn't have to be with you, mind you. You have seven brothers who also need wives."

"My brothers better not look at my woman," I growl, shooting a glare down the counter at Garrett.

"Hey, you know we don't poach," Garrett replies, offended.

"Look," I sigh. "I don't think calling Mom right now is a good idea. Besides, I don't want to mess anything up for Sofie. She might love the guy."

Dad snorts. “Spencer told me she was worried about you when he told her what you found with Branson. That girl has eyes for you. That wouldn't happen if she were happy."

She wants me to fuck her.

I shove the thought away and huff. "We're acting like a bunch of girls."

Dad shoves a cup of tea into my hands. I peer at the steaming liquid and find I’m relieved to see that he left it black.

Not thirty seconds later, I hear Mom's voice coming through the speaker. Garrett laughs and wraps an arm around my neck. He drags me over to where Dad sits at the small dining table.

"And there are two of my boys," Mom sighs, a huge smile on her face.

"You'll see all eight of your boys when you move out here," I tell her.

"Oh, poppycock." She scoffs. "There's been so much fun here. Tallulah James arranged a murder mystery reveal on a party boat. You remember her, right? She went to school with Spencer. Oh, there were so many shenanigans."

Mom is thrilled by all this news, and my mind boggles. "All I can think about right now is how the fuck a party boat works in Sugar Briar,” I mutter.

"Watch your mouth," Mom chides. "There's a big lake outside Sugar Briar. The boat runs on that. It's been rather popular. Of course, after the shenanigans, it's fully booked for a while." Mom shudders.

Before she can start talking again, Dad jumps in, "Maddox has a girl." He's blunt and to the point.

Her mouth drops open, and I wince at the look on her face.

"I do not have a girl,” I counter.

"He wants a girl," Garrett adds. "You need to come here and help him out. I mean, you want grandkids, right?"

"That's right, babe," Dad says. "Sofie and Maddox need a woman's touch. The poor girl is going to be miserable if she marries her fiancé, so she needs help. So, you see, your son needs you."

Her eyes narrow. "Is this a ploy to get me to Alaska?"

"Here it is,” I say. “Sofie Ryan arrived a few hours ago. I felt an immediate connection with her, and she did too. She's one of eleven in a bachelorette party. It's her party. The groom's mother and sister are bitches. I'm not sure where she belongs, but it's not with him!”

"Maddox Jameson Hawke, you're not too old to have your mouth rinsed out with soap!" Mom snaps. "I'll book a flight." The line goes dead.

The three of us stare at the black phone, wondering if we heard her right.

“Did Mom just say she was booking a flight?” Colton asks, breaking the silence.

I turn to face my youngest brother and nod. "Yeah, she did."

He scoffs. "I told Dad to pretend that another woman was after him, and that he needed her to come over and chase her off. He wouldn't have it. She would have been here already if he had."

"I'm not lying to your mother." He frowns. “I thought you were scheduled to work the reception until eight?”

"I'm taking a break before Branson arrests me for killing a guest." He flops onto my sofa, head at one end and feet hanging off the other. "Those women you brought earlier are a pain in the ass. The older one especially." He groans and sighs. "Is Mom really coming here? No bullshit."

"You heard her," I say. "Why do you want to murder a guest?"

“Catherine Walker has called not once or twice, but twelve times looking for her daughter.

" He drops his feet to the floor, sits forward, and eyes us.

"First, she wanted Sofie's room number. I refused to give it to her and quoted the lodge privacy policy.

Then, she wanted someone to go to Sofie's room and tell her to return her call.

I figured Sofie had the good sense to ignore her.

I wish I could do the same." He rubs a hand down his face. "I can't wait for them to check out."

I rub my brows and ask, "Why is everyone in my cabin?"

"Bro, I'll end up falling asleep if I go to mine," Colton says.

"You can come to mine. I'll feed you before you go back to work,” Dad says.

"Ugh," Colton moans as he shoves up and gives Garrett and me the finger behind Dad's back.

Ignoring my youngest sibling, I ask Garrett, "Do you know where Gabe is?"

“Fiddling with one of the hot tubs. At least he was when I came over."

"I need to talk to him." I head to the front door, and Garrett follows.

"Want company?"

I eye him. "Sure."

“What’s going on in town?”

“Found a dead body behind the Lavender B&B.”

"I know that. Did you recognize her?"

"Maybe."

He grabs my arm and turns me to face him. "Who is it?"

"Wait until we get to Gabe, so I don't have to repeat myself."

His eyes widen. "Oh, shit! It's that Andrea chick, isn't it? Fuck!"

"You know her?" I cross my arms over my chest, wondering where this is going. "Because I thought Gabe dated her."

"He did, so get that idea right out of your head," he snaps. "Gabe complained to me on and off about Andrea leaving when she was talking about moving into his cabin with him. He tried to find her, but he had no luck."

"Shit," I say, starting to move again. "I didn't know they were that serious."

"Honestly, I think she was. You know what he's like. I also don't think he tried all that hard to find her."

"Fuck!"

"Why do you two look like your best friend died?” Gabe jokes as he sees us approaching. He's searching through an assortment of nuts and bolts in front of him.

"Maddox found someone you lost," Garrett says, pissing me off.

I shoot him a glare, and he shrugs. Gabe frowns between us. I just go with it. "Andrea didn't leave town, Gabe. She's the woman Branson and I found."

"What are you talking about?" He drops his tools and stands. "What woman?"

"We found Andrea behind one of the B&Bs in town. She'd been frozen, and then—" I pause, not wanting to conjure that image in his mind. Being in mine was bad enough.

"Go on," he says quietly, dropping his butt onto the bench.

"Remember that she was already dead, okay? We found her hanging from a tree. Branson has no clue how she died because it wasn't obvious with her being frozen and all." I wipe a hand down my face. "I didn't want you to hear it from someone else."

“I thought she left because I wasn't keen on her moving in with me.

" He winces. "I tried to find her for answers, but I didn't put much effort into it to be honest. Now, I feel like a bastard.

" He stands and faces the mountains. "I need to be alone.

" Over his shoulder, he says, "That needs repairing. Two of the nozzles are blocked."

"What a fucking mess." Garrett gets down and searches through the tools. "You go do whatever you need to do. I've got this."

"I need a shower and food."